The Brothers of Longridge Circle were well represented at
Terry Ryan’s requiem and the family is forever grateful to the Catenians, their
brotherhood and fellowship. With the help of Terry’s wife, Pat, Joe Carroll
writes:
Terence Michael Ryan was born in Farnworth, Bolton on 5th
November 1936. He was the eldest of three children and the family soon moved to
Blackpool where his mother and aunt ran a successful boarding house. His father
was Chief Fire Officer at Salwick and encouraged Terry after “passing” his 11+
to attend St Joseph’s College, a Christian Brothers establishment, in
Blackpool.
He left the school in 1955 and took up the position of
Trainee QS with Lancashire County Council. It was a County Hall that Terry met
Pat, in the “brew room” and shortly after married her at St Joseph’s, Ribbleton
in 1961.
During this period Terry was an active member of St Joseph’s
College Old Boys RUFC and when in 1959 it was suggested that they form the
basis of the new Blackpool RUFC he continued to be involved for a further 5 or
6 years.
Terry and Pat had three children, Peter, Catherine and
Joanne, all of whom he encouraged in education and was proud of their
individual achievements. He also continued his own education gaining a BSc in
Estate Management from Reading University.
Terry was a keen motorcyclist and trial bike rider achieving
notable victories in a variety of competitions. He also had a love of sailing
and was an experienced Mirror and Enterprise dinghy sailor, passing on his love
and experience to his three children especially on cold wet days!
After qualifying he left Lancashire County Council and
obtained a teaching post at what was then Preston Polytechnic, now University
of Central Lancashire where he became Head of the Building Department before
transferring to the Business Department. He took early retirement at 50 and
took a position with a Salford company, eventually becoming self employed as a
computer programmer.
Pat recalls, for relaxation, Terry set himself the task of
rebuilding a Range Rover from the chassis upwards, meticulously taking his time
from January 1992 to September 1998 at which point he decided to sell it to
Father Christmas!!
Terry joined Preston
Amounderness Rotary Club and soon became involved in the day to day running as
Public Relations Officer. He joined Longridge Circle 286 in 2006 and was soon
Registrar 2007-2009 and then took on the role of Secretary from 2010-2014.
Terry continued to
enjoy attending St Joseph’s College OB’s annual reunion dinners held in
Blackpool each year and a testament to his standing was the number of SJOBs at
Terry’s Requiem.
In his retirement
he took up golf becoming a member at Longridge Golf Club, not the easiest
course in the world but he was famously part of the Longridge Circle team that
won the Provincial Golf Trophy for four consecutive years. In 2015 his score
tipped the result in favour of Longridge.
He and Pat enjoyed
their four grand children William, Christian, Lilli and Charlie and spent many
happy holidays with them.
Terry’s last
meeting at Longridge was on Tuesday 16th January 2018 when after the
meeting he enjoyed a meal and a glass of red wine in the company of friends and
in the early hours of 17th he passed away. His Requiem Mass at St
Francis, Hill Chapel was packed to capacity as his family, friends, school
chums and his Catenian Brothers said farewell to a man we all felt privileged
to know.
Rest in Peace Terry
and Rise in Glory.
